Ongoing research attempts to achieve new materials with improved operational characteristics, for example, reduced electrical resistance at higher temperatures over existing materials, including superconducting materials. Scientists have theorized a possible existence of a “perfect conductor,” or a material that exhibits resistance similar to that of superconducting materials in their superconducting state, but that may not necessarily demonstrate all the conventionally accepted characteristics of a superconducting material.
Notwithstanding their name, conventional high temperature superconducting (“HTS”) materials still operate at very low temperatures. In fact, most commonly used HTS materials still require use of a cooling system that uses liquids with very low boiling points (e.g., liquid nitrogen). Such cooling systems increase implementation costs and discourage widespread commercial and consumer use and/or application of such materials.
What is needed are HTS materials with improved operating characteristics; mechanisms for modifying known HTS materials so that the modified HTS materials operate with improved operating characteristics; and/or techniques for designing and fabricating new HTS materials.